Cryptography/Random number generation
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The generation of random numbers is essential to cryptography. Any stochastic process (generation of random numbers) simulated by a computer, however, is not truly random, but pseudorandom; that is, the randomness of a computer is not from random radioactive decay of an unstable chemical isotope, but from predefined stochastic process. Within the limitations thereof, any high-quality pseudorandom number generator must be:
- random with a uniform distribution,
- able to generate independent numbers with no correlations between successive numbers.
[edit] Methods of Pseudorandom Number Generation
Keeping in mind that we are dealing with pseudorandom number generation (i.e. numbers generated from a computer), there are various ways to randomly generate numbers.
